Being impeccable with our words, and deeply aware of their cascading impacts, has never been more important.

With Facebook now estimated to have over a billion participants, the recorded interconnectedness of the global and local populations has evolved to a new phenomenon, with extraordinary impacts.

One of these impacts is the ability to perform a deep review of our own personal and relationship experiences and history.

Shamanic recapitulation, popularized by Carlos Castaneda‘s books, is a process of deep review of our experiences to re-frame our experiences, release emotions and evolve through healing. Even more than e-mail records, Facebook exponentially facilitates deeper review and recapitulations.

Every post and comment we create along with those we are connected with is memorialized. Every new connection, every de-friending or blocking and all of the communications in-between (including the emotional content) are scribed, forever.

Marginalizing the media as less impacting or real than other ways we interact or share and communicate discounts the actual communications and focuses upon the media. As elucidated well in the physics and metaphysics book,My Big Toe (Theory of Everything), our very consciousness is the process of reception and transmission of information, and the Facebook medium delivers the single largest composite of this information upon the planet.

While touch and physical relationships generally hold the most powerful and energetic impacts upon us, much of the Facebook experience blends the actual physical communications with our digital communications with our friends, families and important people in our lives.

Beyond the obvious impacts Facebook has upon us, My Big Toe (MBT) materials suggest another phenomenon that may escape our peripheral vision and understanding. MBT posits that based upon research and experimentation in the quantum and consciousness sciences, the actual recording upon a medium (paper or electronic) has an impact on our very reality.

If the information is recorded, then reality (and our experience) is constrained to a set of probabilities based upon the recorded history. While our memories each fade and we re-frame those memories of our experiences and events, recorded information is not subject to the same changes (though it remains subject to our individual interpretations).

Performing a recapitulation recently, using Facebook communications as one source of the recorded history, has demonstrated the extensive volume of potential to isolate shifts in perspective, communication foibles and challenging interpretations we each encounter as we seek to relate to each other.

Beyond mere curiosity or personal use to review ourselves (and others), the Facebook phenomenon has become an accelerant to the evolution of our very consciousness, individually and collectively.

Being impeccable with our words, and deeply aware of their cascading impacts, has never been more important.

“1. Be Impeccable With Your Word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.”

If we begin to practice this in all aspects of our communications with others, we begin to shift our assemblage points, and we recondition any abusive patterns—in a fashion similar to how positive affirmations work.

We transform and perform alchemy upon ourselves.

Speaking with integrity is a process which requires continual conscious focus, whereby we check and ensure we speak our truth, and only speak those words which will produce a positive benefit. As we use our minds to perform these processes with our communications, we hone both our intellectual and emotional maturities, as we are growing and expanding (wiring our neurons firing, consciously and with intent).

By becoming impeccable with our word, we drastically reduce the potential to trigger one another, and with each trigger we avoid, more focus and emotional stability may be leveraged for healing.

Jim Fry: I’m a Multi-vert and Magician-in-Training. I celebrate my inner landscape, solitude and explorations in an introverted fashion, while still seeking to share my reflections and build community. For me, Magick* is the art of intentionally shifting the state of my consciousness, and BEing.

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Interesting article and very timely for me. Trying to temper myself more on Facebook lately and "be impeccable with my word." Also, have recently been added to a Facebook page where this is being consciously practiced and all the members are seeking to share and gain positive information while on their individual journeys to levels of higher consciousness. Facebook can be used in many different ways, but I think that the potential for us to use it for this purpose is limitless and exciting!

Currently I have two groups of students that I am blessed to be working with. One is a seven month journey around the Medicine Wheel – it is a weekly workshop so their commitment level is astronomical. The second workshop is affectionately called "Fire In The Soul" and is a bit of alchemy, a bit of Taoism, a bit of shamanic journey, and a bit of energetics. I begin with a new group of students in March for a year long mentorship as well. I will send you a private note with the website details. Am always looking for teachers grins.

"…the Facebook phenomenon has become an accelerant to the evolution of our very consciousness, individually and collectively…Being impeccable with our words, and deeply aware of their cascading impacts, has never been more important." Couldn't agree more, Jim! A thought-provoking article. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for reading; you are one of my first deeper connections made on FB and I frequently go to your wall to see unique information I don't find elsewhere. You are an incredible node in the strands of conscious flow, for me.

WOW! I really, really resonated with this article. I saw the potential of facebook when I first joined. It has been a transformative experience for me. I am continually amazed by the friends that I have that I will never meet, and, by the family members who have un-friended me. More importantly, I have loved having my consciousness raised through people sharing their insights, such as this article. I too, am introverted and enjoy my own inner landscape.

Ouch – Yes, there seems to be some challenges as our families are more exposed to our multitudes of communications of intellectual and emotional narratives laid down in historical tracks upon our pages.

Thank you for sharing what this set of reflections meant to you. I always love feedback that details *why* someone expends their precious moments ( a gift! ) to share their comments.

As a gypsy now in life alignment, I've had incredible opportunities the last few years to roam the realm and actually spend time with several sets of people I've intersected with on FB. They are now some of my deepest friendships, inspirations and motivational sources.

I had never thought of the extensive records Facebook keeps that way before! Thanks for a truly new perspective. I had previously thought of the recording either neutrally or wondering if it might be a burden (should I ever say something I don't fully mean or the meaning of which I haven't fully explored, in the heat of the chatting moment). But it can also be a great tool for remembering accurately that which otherwise would get overwritten by memory. And I can use the overview of a relationship to notice patterns I might not otherwise have noticed (though not everything in a relationship happens on Facebook).

A friend recently posted something encouraging us all to look back over our recent status updates and see if any common themes emerged–mostly to get people to see that sometimes they get caught up in complaining and then believe the story they are telling themselves about how awful life is. One reason I am very careful to only post things that contribute to the story of myself as a woman of integrity and spirit (and humor).

Your thoughts and feelings have provoked a whirlwind of cascading contemplations for me.

You illuminate some facets ( oh look, shiny objects! ) that I want to explore further. Maybe in part III, since EJ has just graced me with an opportunity to post a prequel to this post. Now I've confused myself, that would be 0, this was 1 and the follow-up to this will be part, 2? … Now that my GPS is realigned – the prequel really delves into the methods, experiences (of excavating our own nuances) and power (to transform and re-frame perspectives), as you've picked up on in your comments.

Fantastically precise in describing how I feel about FB and actually, much of my communications, as of late. Thank you for your clear exposition! Thanks also for letting me know about your article.

Recently, a friend of mine shared through private messages, a video of a song that he wrote and played and asked me if I would consider sharing it on my FB page. I wanted to do it for him as he has been a good, if distant, FB friend. My instincts protested loudly – I was in conflict and I wanted to run away from the issue, pretend I hadn't seen the request, or ask a buddy for advice. Then my higher self got stern with me and insisted that I find a way to speak my truth in a way that would not be hurtful. Jim, I hope that what I said to him is an example of the spirit of which your article speaks.

"Thank you for sharing this with me! You are a very talented man, I really enjoyed your song.

I admit to having a great dilemma regarding posting your video. As I said, I feel that it is a quality work. My issue is with the subject of violence. I am not saying that we should all bury our heads and ignore what is happening all around us. What I attempt to do with my art and my 2 FB pages is offer a stress-free refuge that is spiritually uplifting. I include very little about myself, my life or my concerns. There are many who regularly visit my pages who are in need of healing and light. They also share with me an elevated sensitivity to the violence and negativity of our society. As an example of my effort to heal is my elimination of television and news sources in my environment.

Many of my wonderful friends, including you, are politically and socially aware people, who I enjoy supporting by liking their work and sharing their work with other like-minded friends. What I am reluctant to do is post topics, like the tragic shooting in the lyrics of your song or the tragic plight of our animal friends – as it would alter the refuge-like quality of my pages.

I hope you understand this preference and let me know if there is something else I can do to be supportive?"

I agree, Jim and I'm going to change the image! Thanks for this. I'm often bothered by how lightly people take their interactions on the internet. It's such a huge gift (and responsibility) to have the power to connect with so many. It could be such a transformational tool—if we allow it.

While I'd not really contemplated it too deeply before, I began to recognize the flatness of that image actually put me in a flat space, until I understood that was my response to it. That led to looking at the whole phenomenon, and prior to seeing the update here, I'd sent this to EJ, which *really* is crucial:

"Could someone please select a better image for the first piece, already posted. While it complements contextually, it is a visual *anchor*. Watching what moves and what sinks on EJ, the visual engagement is often commented on by readers in post comments. Folks are placed in an emotionally receptive, neutral or rejecting space upon first vision of the first visual. In this case, flat in my impression. When that happens, enthusiasm and discussion engagements may suffer."

Thanks for the canvas space / opportunity to be, here, and I'm glad you liked the writing.

The dots …. they are …. and we are, connecting. …. This short work and the insightful comments are very helpful along the way. Thanks Jim for your writing, for sharing, and for the magic you bring to the table.

Belatedly reading this and lots of thoughts coming up. I've found Facebook a challenge to me to find a way to articulate what I feel/sense in a way that others can understand (some of) what I'm trying to convey. I've also found it a wonderful way to find like-minded/hearted individuals no matter where on the globe they are – that sense of global village. Both of these, more than a path for healing, has been a path of encouraging me to step more fully into my own self – Facebook has become an invitation to 'show' myself. This seems to run counter to a lot of media coverage it has got for being a tool that discourages 'real' participation in life. So, referencing the Medicine Wheel above, it relates to the final stage when we have moved through our journey of healing the past, etc., and are stepping into the place of our becoming. Facebook can facilitate that.

But of course, like everything, it's intention and awareness that matters, not the tool

I imagine over time I'll stop smirking each time I see my name within yours, but not yet!

Sitting here contemplating, perhaps intention awareness tool = trinity of experience, feels so for me. IAT – New acronym meme perhaps? For me it has been an incredible opportunity realized in the multitudes of wondrously talented people I've intersected. If categorized, for me it is the most access I've encountered to the often sequestered artists – a cyber bohemian rhapsody. I've been provided opportunities to edit great writing, co-create visual art, receive incredible critiques and share my expressions in visual and written forms beyond my wildest dreams.

I've also witnessed and been drawn into the flows of what I term the mental and emotional parasite flows. While I've endeavored to hone myself and prevent those draws, I stumble and I've found there's nothing wrong, and much right, with pulling a post that fires *ANYONE* up or departing others' threads that go 'hot'. I'm deeply aware of and challenged by many of the issues on our gem of a planet, yet I deem it's entrapment and entrainment to get drawn in to battles of wits or worse. I sense the 'loosh' in physical sensations of negative emotional energy in those moments, both in myself and others. I have no desires to feed into those. I'll have more on that when I tune and edit some older pieces that reflect some incredible fringe experiences that I'm thankful I was logging as they occurred.

I love your take on stepping beyond healing and stepping more fully into yourself.

Thank you for all the quality reflections and everything you are and share. It has been, and is, great to intersect.

Life has slowed enough for me to read this, Jim. Good stuff here, Brother. We've often pondered, Sally and I, how such connecting technologies are really "changing" us™ and reality™. Is Facebook connectivity a shadow, a toxic mimic, or a training ground for living more consciously connected to the Holographic Universe, in which ALL is (can we use that word?… "is"?) the intersection of waveforms and reality IS information? I'm voting for the latter.

I have certainly found Facebook to be a training ground for impeccability of the word. Bullshit and carelessness get called out here, which continually calls me to find the best language that most exactly communicates my experience.

I like Angeles Arrien's take on it in the Four-Fold Way: "The Way of the Visionary or Creative Problem Solver is to tell the truth without blame or judgment." I tighten up a bit at the notion that I must "only speak those words which will produce a positive benefit," as I'm not sure I can always know what the positive actually is. My fear is that the call to "positivity" will morph into an attempt to be nice, and I'm not sure "nice" always aligns with telling the truth. Sometimes the truth will not feel "nice" to either speaker or listener. Sometimes it's the truth that does not feel "positive" that goes in and does the greatest work, such that both speaker and listener, at some later point, can stop and appreciate the true positive result of that spoken truth, even if it seemed hard or harsh at the time. If we can speak "without blame or judgment," simply telling our truth as accurately, cleanly, and clearly as we can in an open and compassionate way, I think we can trust that this will ultimately serve "the direction of truth and love," even if it does not always feel like it.

As you might guess, I react a bit to the notion that the response-ability lies only on the shoulders of the speaker. I've gone through a great deal of loss and grief over the matter of speaking with integrity and without blame and judgment. For many people, the judgment lies already inside of them, in that deep core of shame Brene Brown speaks about. I can do my part to speak with integrity. But there is another part of the equation, for others to do.

In the end, my power lies in focusing on what I can do. I appreciate your writing on that matter, Bro. Peace. T